Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY WEDNESDAY:
No games scheduled

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ The Rays had some momentum heading into the playoffs, having overcome a nine-game September deficit to the Red Sox to capture the American League wild card. Apparently, the fans didn’t notice. Attendance for Tuesday’s Game 4 of the ALDS was 28,299, more than 4,000 less than the previous game. Rays owner Stuart Sternberg showed his frustration as he watched his team get eliminated by the Rangers.

“We replicated last year and our numbers were down,” Sternberg said. “The [television] ratings were down. The rubber has got to hit the road at some point. We’re four years into winning. We’re getting to the point where we don’t control our own destiny. This is untenable as a model.”

Added Sternberg: “It won’t be my decision, or solely my decision. But eventually, Major League Baseball is going to vaporize this team. It could go on nine, 10, 12 more years. But between now and then, it’s going to vaporize this team.”

♦ Former Red Sox pitcher Steve Avery appeared to win a two-year lease on a Ford Mustang after hitting a target with a football from 20 yards away at a high school football game in Michigan on Friday night. However, a spokeswoman for the sponsoring dealership, Taylor Ford, explained later that the rules were not followed, so Avery will not get the car. Apparently, the contestant has to hit 10 targets in 30 seconds, not just one. Avery, 41, went 16-14 in two seasons for the Red Sox (1997-98) after having success in the early part of his career with the Braves.

♦ One day after ESPN yanked his “All My Rowdy Friends” song from the opening to “Monday Night Football,” country music artist Hank Williams Jr. apologized for his comments comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and calling the president “the enemy.” “The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin and high fiven on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement,” Williams said in a statement posted on his website. “I am very sorry if it offended anyone.” ESPN did not immediately disclose if it planned to return Williams’ song to the show, which has featured it for 22 years.

♦ A goalie for the English soccer team Manchester United denied stealing doughnuts from a supermarket after news of the incident was made public. David De Gea acknowledged that he and two friends ate some Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the store, but the Spaniard explained: “We were going to buy more things. I realized I didn’t have my wallet so I went out to the car to get it. They thought that I was leaving without paying. I tried to explain to them, but my English is still not very good and we were there for a while.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Oct. 5, 2005, the Red Sox lost Game 2 of the American League Division Series when the White Sox took advantage of a key error by which Boston player to score five runs in the fifth and rally for a 5-4 victory?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It doesn’t make a difference what you’ve done in the past. We wanted him to go out there and pitch well. Trust me, I’m pretty sure all the New York fans will remember this game as opposed to some of the other games.” — Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, after A.J. Burnett pitched well in Tuesday’s 10-1 rout of the Tigers

STAT OF THE DAY: 6 — Players in major league history who have hit three home runs in one postseason game, with Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre joining the list Tuesday

‘NET RESULTS: This is efficiency: Michail Osinov of the Russian soccer team Mitos scores on Olympia off a kick-off play. Elapsed time: three seconds.

A Spanish soccer referee slips and ends up making a slide tackle on Valencia’s Sergio Canales.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Second baseman Tony Graffanino, who missed a double-play grounder that led to three unearned runs

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Steve Miller turns 68 Wednesday.

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